For most students, the beginning of the school year is a time where the hot guys and girls of the summer melt away in the nostalgia of summer beach parties and endless days of sleep. A significant transition in which we will abandon our shorts and flip flops for sweatpants and house slippers. However, for students at Duke University, the beginning of this school year was a time of war.
This year, the incoming freshman at Duke University were asked to read Fun Home for its Common Experience reading program. Fun Home, written by Alison Bedchel is a graphic novel that explores the life of her father, a closeted queer and its effect on her life and sexuality. According to The Daily Dot, “Fun Home, her graphic novel, about her childhood, has won numerous awards. This year its smash hit stage adaptation snagged a Tony Award for Best Musical.”
So what the problem then?
Duke University is a liberal arts school. So it's pretty strange that prospective students at a liberal arts school are complaining about reading a progressive book. The whole connotation of this subject in itself is ludicrous. I would hope as a student attending a liberal arts college or even considering attending a liberal arts college, that you would have understood that the whole point of the college’s philosophy is being immersed in both classical and relatively progressive works of art, literature, and media in all disciplines. Perhaps the students should reconsider their decision. It might even be in my moral reach to question your optimism and liberality at all.
Duke’s Class of 2019 clearly did not get the memo. That being said, lots of students were outraged claiming that this book didn’t coincide with their beliefs and that the graphic content was too pornographic. These are all valid points except for the fact that none of these ideas have anything to do with the actual book. What I mean by that is this book is simply just that… a book. And it should have no measure against your beliefs because at the end of the day, they are just characters and images on a page and whether or not you agree with their lives or not is up for debate. If we all stopped reading a book because we didn’t like what it had to say, we would have never found out that Romeo tried to run away with Juliet and died trying or that Oedipus was really married to his mom and was doomed from the start or that the Raven will forever screech for “Nevermore.” It just isn’t practical to turn away from everything unknown.
So my question is, are you really that close-minded, freshman? Are you really that conservative that you can’t step outside of your own scope of life to appreciate the art of this graphic novel? Never mind the content of it. Consider the creative ingenuity it took to create such a masterpiece? Perhaps you should try baring yourself and see how far your conservatism takes you. I can’t imagine that you would be so jarring then.
Had the freshman continued to read the statement issued by the school, they would have also known that this was a suggested reading. Duke’s administration understands that religion and social beliefs are an important part of their student body and never said that these freshman had to read the book or else. Instead they just offered it as a reading choice to get students involved outside the classroom as a sort of even ground in which any two people could talk about the one thing they had in common. So Duke University Freshman, get over yourselves. This boycott is highly unnecessary and you’ve frankly wasted your time on nothing. If you want to read the book, read the book, if not then don’t. There are a lot more worthy causes to be fighting then getting upset over a book.
